Apparatus for singeing cloth



June 10, 1969 YO5H|KAZU SANDO ET AL 3,448,498

APPARATUS FOR SINGEING CLOTH Filed Jan. 10, 1967 Sheet of 4 INVEN TORS YOSHl/(AZU sA/wa K/yasH/ NJKABA June 10, 1969 YOSHIKAZU SANDO ET AL 3,448,498

APPARATUS FOR SINGEING CLOTH Sheet 3 014 Filed Jan. 10, 196'? INVENTORS YOSH/KAZU $A V 0 K/YOSH/ IVA (A54 BY Mo J 7 A TI'UE/VE/S June 10, 1969 YOSHIKAZU SANDO ET A-PPARATUS FOR Sheet i of 4 Filed Jan. 10, 1967 FIGS IN VEN TORS YOSH KAZU 54 -00 hl Yosm NA K4 54 June 10, 1969 YOSHIKAZU SANDO ET 3,448,498

APPARATUS FOR SINGEING CLOTH Sheet Filed Jan. 10, 1967 FIGH FIG.12

INVENTORS YOSH/KAZU SANDO NAKABA ATTORNEYS" United States Patent 3,448,498 APPARATUS FOR SIN GEING CLOTH Yoshilrazu Sande and Kiyoshi Nakaba, Wakayama-shi, Japan, assignors to Sando Iron Works Co., Ltd., Wakayama-ken, Japan Filed Jan. 10, 1967, Ser. No. 608,345 Claims priority, application Japan, Jan. 14, 1966, 41/2,050 Int. Cl. D06c 9/00, 23/02 U.S. Cl. 26-3 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for the careful singeing of cloth materials, particularly synthetic fiber cloths, and to a new and useful singe burner construction.

It is very important in the singeing of cloth material that the temperature be maintained at proper levels. If the temperature is too high, there is a likelihood that the material will become disclored or will harden or weaken. In some instances singed fibers will remain on the surface of the cloth in a curled shag form which will fall out during the post-dyeing treatment so that the finished cloth will have undyed portions. These curled shags may fuse and stick onto the heated guide rollers and cause such defects as blemishes, unevenly dyed portions, etc. which will impair the overall appearance.

In the conventional singeing device, the flame from the burner is arranged so that it will contact the cloth in the stretch between two guide rollers so that the fibers of the cloth may be burned. In such an arrangement, when the singeing flame is applied to a thin textured material of synthetic fiber, a socalled blow-through phenomenon takes place in which the flame will go completely through the material and cause the fibers to melt and to be thinned to result in a hardening and weakening of the material. In addition, when the burner generates an uneven flame, the temperature variations which will result will cause similar undesirable results.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a burner which is made up of a plurality of thin metal plates, each of which has slots. The plates are combined to form a burner nozzle for producing a uniform flame along the complete operating length of the burner. In addition, the burner is covered with a nozzle made of a fire-proof material which extends over the top and sidefaces of the burner and provides a hot zone to insure the complete combustion of the gas forming the flame and to produce an eflective hot air blast from the combustion so that the flame may be directed uniformly over the surface of the cloth which is to be signed. The construction is such that the flame will also be directed over a very wide area and the temperature of the flame will be uniform along the whole area of singeing.

In accordance with a feature of the contruction the 3,448,498 Patented June 10, 1969 burners are mounted so as to be pivotal on a frame at a location adjacent an arm support for a fluid, e.g. water, cooled roller which, in turn, may be adjusted relative to the burner. The water-cooling effected by the rollers is advantageously applied through the roller at a location on the web being singed sufliciently close to insure that the flame from the burner does not blow through the cloth material and that the temperature of the cloth Web does not become excessively high. The burners are adjustable in respect to the angle at which the flame contacts the cloth, and in the case of standard singeing, the flame is advantageously directed against the with material at the location where it passes over the center of the water-cooled roller. In Order to singe cloths which are relatively thin, such as lace materials, the angle at which the 'burner is mounted is adjusted so that the flame is directed in a tangential direction to enable a soft singeing without impairing the cloth. When thicker material such as cotton, staple fiber, cotton and synthetic fiber mix, etc. are to be singed, the angle of the burner is adjusted so that the flame is directed against the cloth in a manner such that the flame could pass through the cloth when appropriate in order to subject the cloth material to an intense singeing action. Deterioration of the cloth web because of the burning is prevented because of the orientation of the burner which is mounted so that it may be immediately turned away from the watercooled roller when the feeding of the cloths is terminated or when the burner is initially ignited. The burner may even be turned completely away from the cloth and the rollers during the non-feeding stage or the time at Which the burner is being ignited.

In accordance with a further feature of this invention, the :burner includes a mounting bracket for supporting it over a gas supply tube which is adapted to feed the gas for combustion upwardly into the burner. The mounting bracket includes a slot between the supply tube and the burner which may be closed by means of an adjusta'ble flame cutout member which may be inserted into the slot. In the preferred form the flame cutout member comprises a coil spring which is directed into the slot to cut off the gas supply and stop the flame when desired.

Accordingly it is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus for singeing cloth or synthetic fiber materials which includes means for guiding a web over an adjustably positioned fluid-cooled roller and for mounting a singe burner adjacent the roller in a position such that the burner flame may be directed against the fabric at the location of the roller to cause a high intensity singeing or, if desired, in a direction away from both the fabric and the roller during the startup or igniting period.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved singe burner which is made up of a plurality of juxtaposed burner plates, each of which is provided with a slot extending inwardly from a top and a bottom face and with successive plates having slots which are otfset from the previous plates in a lateral direction so that the feeding of the gas will be upwardly through a slot in a first plate then longitudinally into the slot of a next plate and upwardly above the burner grid which is formed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a mounting for a singeing burner for positioning the burner plate assembly above a gas supply tube for the flow of gas from the tube upwardly to the burner and which includes a nozzle covering over the top of the burner made of a noninflamrnable material which is adapted to get hot in order to provide a high and even temperature singeing flame and which also includes means disposed between the gas supply tube and the burner for closing oil the supply of gas in order to extinguish the flame or any portion thereof along the width of the burner.

A further object of the invention is to provide a singeing apparatus which includes a plurality of closed temperature-controlled casing members in which are positioned supports for adjustably mounting a fluid-cooled guide roller for a synthetic fiber web which may be guided into the casing and which includes further a singeing burner arrangement in the casing and being pivotally mounted adjacent the cooled roller so that it may be oriented in a selected direction for singeing the fabric which is moved around the roller.

A further object of the invention is to provide a singeing apparatus and a singe burner which are simple in design, rugged in construction and economical to manufacture.

The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its use, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a somewhat schematic side elevational view of a singeing apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial elevational view of a singeing burner and water-cooled guide roller for the fabric in the non-operative position of the burner;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 of the standard operating position of the burner in respect to the water-cooled roller;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 of the operating position for thin materials;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 2 of the operating position of the burner for intense singeing of thick materials such as cloths made of cotton, staple fiber or a mixed woven cotton and synthetic fiber;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of a plate employed in a singe burner;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 of the adjacent plate to that indicated in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 indicates a side elevational view showing the assembly of two plates together;

FIG. 10 is a partial perspective view of a burner constructed with plates similar to but of slightly different design from those indicated in FIGS. 7 and 9;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a burner assembly constructed in accordance with the invention; and

FIG. 12 is an elevational view of an end of the burner of FIG. 11 and indicating the flame cutout device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to the drawings in particular, the invention embodied therein in FIGS. 1-5 comprises a singeing apparatus which includes a frame with upright members 4, 4 with a cross member 4' and a partial cross member 4". An intermediate upright or column supporting member 4" is carried by the cross frame member 4' and it provides a support for carrier arms 8 and 8' of cooling rollers 3 and 3, respectively. The cooling rollers 3 and 3' are provided with means (not shown) for circulating a cooling fluid such as water therethrough. The arms or carriers 8 and 8' are mounted on respective pivot axes 9 and 9' carried by the upright 4". The arms 8 and 8' may be swung upwardly and downwardly by pivoting around their respective supporting axes in order to adjust the position of the associated water-cooled rollers 3 and 3' in relation to burners 5 and 5. This pivotal movement is effected by threading a threaded bolt member 10 into and out of a bearing or collar member 11 carried on the upright 4" for the purpose of shifting the associated carrier. A handle 12 is provided on each of the threaded members 10 to facilitate the adjustment.

In accordance with a \feature of the invention, a burner assembly 5 and 5 is associated with each cooling roller 3 and 3'. The burner assemblies are advantageously mounted on a supporting bracket 50 so that they may be pivotally moved around a substantially horizontal axis 5-2, 52.. Each burner 5 and 5' is provided with an associated setting arm 6 and 6' which extends outwardly at an opposite side of the associated pivot support and engages against respective stopper pins 7 and 7 which may be located in a selected one of a series of openings defined in a positioning plate 54 54'. A guide roller 2 is supported by the frame structure so that a web of cloth 1 may be guided first around the roller 2 and then around the cooling roller 3 and thereafter the cooling roller 3 as indicated in FIG. 1.

By referring to FIGS. 2 to 5, it can be seen how the burner assemblies 5 and 5 may be adjusted in respect to the web 1 and the associated cooling roller 3' or 3' for effecting various types of cloth singeing. In the operative position indicated in FIG. 2, the burner 5 is swung to the position at which the burner is oriented away from the cloth material 1 and the cooling roller 3" and it is in this position that the burner is ignited. The burner is also swung to the position indicated in FIG. 2 when the material 1 is not being fed. In order to accomplish this, the stopper pin 7' is removed from the adjustment holes indicated by a, b and c.

In the operative position indicated in FIG. 3, a stopper pin 7 is positioned in the receiving opening b in order to orient the burner 5' so that the flame F will be directed against the material !1 at the location of the cooling roller 3'. This position is the standard singeing position and it provides a beneficial operating arrangement permitting controlled singeing of the material and also cooling thereof by circulating appropriate amounts of cooling water through the cooling roller 3. In this position the flame F may not be directed through the material 1 because the cooling roller 3' is located to prevent this.

In the operative position of FIG. 4, the stop pin 7' is located in the opening a of the adjustment plate 54'. This setting is employed for the light singeing of lace cloth or thin synthetic fiber cloth and it is an arrangement which insures that the texture of the cloth Will not be impaired. The burner 5 is adjusted so that the flame will be directed tangentially over the cooling rooler and the material 1.

In the operative position of FIG. 5, the burner 5' is oriented so that intense singeing [may be effected. For this purpose the stop pin 7' is located in the opening 0. This position is employed for singeing thick cloths of cotton, staple fiber, etc. or cloths of mixed spun or woven synthetic fibers having great amounts of naps or piles which need to be singed with intense flame.

In the embodiment indicated in FIG. 6, there is shown a singeing appartus generally designated 56 which is similar to that of the embodiment of FIG. 1 but instead includes closed combustion casings 14 and 14' which are mounted on a supporting foundation 40 which includes a lower base 40' and an upper base 40". Each casing includes an associated exhaust outlet 13 and 13', respectively. The burners 5 and 5 are adjustably mounted as in the other embodiment and in addition the carrier arms 8 and 8 for the water-cooled rollers 3 and 3 are similarly mounted. The apparatus of FIG. 6 is particularly elfective for conducting singeing while the temperature of synthetic fiber cloth to be singed is prevented from being elevated. Such an apparatus is particularly advantageous for use where the rise of the temperature of the cloth material must be held to a minimum. In the arrangement disclosed, the material 1 is directed first into the casing 14 and then it is directed to the outside air where it is cooled by the air and is thereafter again passed into a second temperature-controlled casing 14 for further treatment.

In FIGS. 7 to 10 there is shown the details of the construction of the burners for singeing the material. A burner generally designated 5 is made up of a plurality of individual plates made of a material such as metal. The plates 15 are provided with a bottom notch 16 which extends vertically upwardly from the bottom edge and a top notch 18 which extends vertically downwardly from a top edge at a spaced location from the bottom slot. In addition, the lower end of the top slot 18 is provided with a cross slot 17. In FIG. 8 there is indicated the next adjacent plate 15' which is arranged on each side of the plate 15. The plate 15' includes top and bottom notches 16' and 18' and cross or transverse notch 17 in a manner similar to the plate 15 but arranged on opposite sides of the centerline of the plate. When the two plates are assembled together, as indicated in FIG. 9, openings 19 at each end are aligned. In addition, the slot 16 of the plate 15 is in communication at its inner end with the transverse slot 17' of the plate '15 so that the gas flow may be upwardly through the slot 16 to the transverse slot 17' and upwardly through the vertical slot 18" to the top of the burner at which place the gas is ignited to form a flame. In a similar manner the slot 16' of the plate 15 communicates at its inner end with the cross slot 17 of the plate 15 so that flow is upwardly through the cross slot portion 17 and the vertical slot 18 to the top of the burner.

As indicated in FIG. 10, individual burner plates 15" and 15" are held together by through bolts which extend through the openings 19, 19 and are secured at each end such as by nut members 21. Each plate includes a raised central portion which forms the raised boss 5a in FIG. 10. The width of the burner is made so that the working width would be a little longer than the maximum width of the material webs which are to be singed. The burner includes means, however, for cutting out any portion of the length of the flame to be described hereinafter.

Blind shutter plates 22, 22, etc., are inserted between groups of plate assemblies in order to provide unequal lengths of such groups along the width of the burner. The spacing between blind plates 22 is advantageously around from 50 to 150 mm. The plates are of uniform outline and do not have any notch or opening so that each group is closed off from the next succeeding group by the blinds.

As best indicated in FIGS. 11 and 12, the burner generally designated 5 is positioned into a slot defined in a bracket member or burner body generally designated 23. A fire-proof nozzle cover 24 is positioned on the top of the bracket 23 over the burner 5 on each side of the boss 5a to align a cavity therein over the openings defined by the slots 18 and 18' to permit the burning of the flame partly within the cavity and partly exteriorly of the cavity, as indicated at 31 in FIG. 11. The nozzle cover 24 is held in place by resilient fitting members 25 which engage over a ledge portion of the nozzle member and are bolted in place such as by bolts 60.

As indicated in FIG. 11, the nozzle member 24 is designed to engage over an upwardly formed central portion 5a and combustion will take place partially within the chamber 30 defined Within the interior of the fire-proof cover nozzle 24. The flame 31 which exits at the exterior of the nozzle will burn uniformly when the temperature of the combustion goes up after combustion takes place from 1 to 3 minutes, the fire-proof nozzle cover will become red-hot and the flame will be uniformly blown out in the form of hot air from the slit opening defined at the upper end of the chamber 30 of the nozzle member 24. This greatly increases the efficiency of the burner and eliminates the possibility of incomplete combustion. As the red heating of the fire-proof nozzle 24 proceeds further, heat is transmitted from the body of the burner to the bracket 23 and for this reason the bracket is provided with cooling fluid passages 32 through which a cooling fluid is circulated in order to maintain the bracket at satisfactory temperatures. For example, water is circulated through the passages 32 and it is maintained at a temperature below 30 C.

A feature of the bracket construction 23 is that it is provided with as lot 33 which is adapted to receive a flame cutout plate or closing member 34 which is slid along the slot below the burner 5 when any portion of the flame is to be cut out. Plate 34 thus effectively closes off the supply of gas which is directed out of a gas supply pipe 26 arranged within a cavity 28 of the bracket 23. The gas from the pipe is directed through openings 29 around through the gas pressure regulating chamber 28 and upwardly through the slotted Openings 16 and 16' of the plates 15, 15 in order to provide fuel for maintaining the flame at 31. When the plate 34 is in position, the gas supply at the particular burner section in which the plate 34 is located-will be stopped so that the flame will be cut out. The cutout plate 34 is regulated by a feeding device which includes two feeding rollers 38, 39 which are adapted to feed the cutout plate strip 34 from a roll 37 thereof. The plate 34 is advantageously of a springlike material so that it may be easily rolled up on the spool 37 which is freely rotatable. The plate 34 is fed out to close the appropriate portion of the gas supply flow area by rotation of the rolls 39. The gas pipe 26 extends along the entire length of the regulating chamber and out through one end of the bracket 23 with appropriate sealing being provided. The pipe 26 is supported by a bearing 36. A gas leakage prevention sealing device 35 is located adjacent the inlet end of the pipe as indicated in FIG. 12. Since there is a possibility that the length of the flame cutout plate 34 must be limited depending on the position of the bearings for the gas pipe 26, the cutout plate is made with a working width a little larger than the maximum width of the cloth material being singed so that in some instances appropriate additional means may be required for cutting out unnecessary portions of the flame. The blind plates 22 make it possible to cut out whole sections of the burner in accordance with positioning of the cutout plate 34.

The present invention permits not only the very efficient singeing of the cloth material and excellent results in respect to the final condition of the material which is treated, but it also provides for a device which is very eflicient and will operate with low gas consumption.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the inventive principles, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for singeing cloth material comprising a mounting frame, a fluid-cooled roller, means adjustably mounting said fluid-cooled roller on said frame guide means for guiding a web of cloth material to be singed around a portion of the circumference of said fluidcooled roller, a burner having means for sustaining a combustion flame along its complete length, said length being comparable to the width of the cloth material, burner mounting means mounting said burner on said frame adjacent said fluid-cooled roller permitting the shifting of the direction of the combustion flame produced thereby for selectively directing the flame against the web at the location where it is moving over the fluidcooled roller and also at other locations of the web about the fluid-cooled roller, said frame including a substantially vertical supporting column for said fluid-cooled roller, a carrier arm pivotally mounted at its inner end on said supporting column, means connected from said supporting column to said carrier arm for shifting said carrier arm for changing the position of said roller in respect to said burner, said burner mounting means including a cross frame member adjacent said upright memher, said burner being pivotally mounted on said cross frame member and having a nozzle portion for the direction of the combustion flame outwardly from said burner oriented substantially radially towards said fluidcooled roller, said burner having an outward trailing portion, and stop means associated with said cross frame member positionable in the path of the trailing portion of said burner providing a stop for the burner in a selected operating position in respect to said fluid-cooled roller.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein said frame carries a plurality of slots at spaced intervals, said stop member being selectively positioned in one of said slots for varying the position of said burner.

3. A device for singeing cloth material comprising a mounting frame, a fluid-cooled roller, means adjustably mounting said fluid-cooled roller on said frame, guide means for guiding a web of cloth material to be singed around a portion of the circumference of said fluid-cooled roller, a burner having means for sustaining a combustion flame along its complete length, said length being comparable to the width of the cloth material, burner mounting means mounting said burner on said frame adjacent said fluid-cooled roller permitting the shifting of the direction of the combustion flame produced thereby for selectively directing the flame against the web at the location where it is moving over the fluid-cooled roller and also at-other locations of the web about the fluid-cooled roller, said mounting frame comprising a central upright member, a first horizontal member extending outwardly from one side of said upright member, a second horizontal member extending outwardly from said upright member at a spaced vertical location above said first horizontal member, said means adjustably mounting said fluid-cooled roller on said frame including a carrier arm pivotally mounted at its inner end on said upright member, means connected to said arm for shifting said arm about its pivot for varying the location of said fluid-cooled roller in respect to said burner, said burner being pivotally mounted on said second horizontal member by said burner mounting means, and an additional fluid-cooled roller, an additional carrier arm pivotally mounted in said upright member below said first carrier arm and carrying said additional fluid-cooled roller, means connected to said additional carrier arm for shifting said additional carrier arm about its pivotal mounting on said member, and an additional burner pivotally mounted on said first horizontal member, said additional burner having means for sustaining a combustion flame along its length, said additional burner being pivotal to vary the position at which said flame contacts the web material in respect to said fluid-cooled roller.

4. A device for singeing cloth material comprising a mounting frame, a fluid-cooled roller, means adjustably mounting said fluid-cooled roller on said frame, guide means for guiding a Web of cloth material to be singed around a portion of the circumference of said fluid-cooled roller, a burner having means for sustaining a combustion flame along its complete length, said length being comparable to the width of the cloth material, burner mounting means mounting said burner on said frame adjacent said fluid-cooled roller permitting the shifting of the direction of the combustion flame produced thereby for selectively directing the flame against the web at the location where it is moving over the fluid-cooled roller and also at other locations of the web about the fluid-cooled roller, said burner comprising a plurality of substantially rectangular first and second plates assembled together side -by side, said first plates each including a slot extending downwardly from the top thereof and terminating at its inner end in a transverse vertical slot and a slot extending substantially upwardly from the bottom end, said second plates being arranged alternately with said first plates in side by side relationship and each having a slot extending upwardly from the bottom edge thereof which communicates with the transverse slot of the adjacent said first plates and a slot extending downwardly from the top thereof having an inner transverse portion which communicates with the vertical slot of the next adjacent one of said first plates.

5. A device according to claim 4, including a burner mounting bracket having a central opening therethrough, a gas supply pipe connected into said central opening, said burner being mounted on said bracket above said gas pipe, the interior of said bracket having means for communicating the gas from the gas pipe to the slots in said burner, and a fire-proof nozzle mounted on said bracket overlying said burner having a cavity in alignment with the slots of the burner and an opening in the nozzle for directing the flame outwardly from said fireproof nozzle.

6. A device according to claim 4, wherein said first and second burner plates are assembled together with the interposition of blind plates which are not slotted between groups of said first and second plates.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,134,158 5/1964 Marks 26-3 FOREIGN PATENTS 12,276 6/1965 Japan. 431,347 7/ 1926 Germany.

2,221 1860 Great Britain. 8,105 1885 Great Britain. 151,666 3/1962 U.S.S.R.

ROBERT R. MACKEY, Primary Examiner. 

